Thursday, October 25, 2007

I wanted to publicly thank the organizers of the Giro d' California, Harley and Deb for another great event. I reallythought the whole thing was very professional and can only admire theeffort they both put in to make a great event! Thank you Harley! Andthank you Deb!

Here is the story... I was running well in the morning Monday (although not as well as Hans!). We were running northon 25 looking for the turn on Bitterwater Rd to head toward King City.Unfortunately, I didn't realize how far off my odometer was, and whenI reached Bitterwater Road, I was not sure it was the turn as Ithought I had more than 2 miles to go. So I kept going on 25 North.When my odometer ran down to what I thought was the turning point, Irealized I had missed the turn. So I reversed direction and headedback South. Of course when I finally got to Bitterwater Road, Ithought I was well behind schedule and was zooming as fast as I couldgo. And I was totally confused as to what to make of my mileage. Atany rate, I zoomed down Bitterwater. Harley had arranged a gas stop,with it's accompanying 10 minute break, just before the final check infront of the lunch stop. When I got to the gas station, I didn'trecognize it, as I still thought the gas stop was a mile or so ahead!So I rode right by, and turning the corner in town I saw Deb and thecheckpoint right ahead. Knowing I couldn't (by the rules) stop aheadof the checkpoint, I drove right up to Deb, with her looking at mewith dismay! I was 17 minutes early! I must have been ahead of time tobegin with, and then flown down Bitterwater road, and then gainedanother 10 minutes by skipping the gas stop. Sigh. I was "cooked". I realized right away that I was way out of the running.I was significantly disappointed, but it's hard to stay sorry when onsuch a great event and surrounded by such nice people. So I perked upduring lunch.Actually, the ride after lunch was great, it was nice to enjoy sometime on the Rumi without worrying about my timing!But then in the evening while cleaning my bike, I found one of therear struts that holds my seat above the rear tire had broken. I madea search for a local welder, but didn't find one open. Frankly, theRumi is a real prize for me, and I was very hesitant to just let somemuffler shop have a go at it. I have almost 4000 miles on it since therestoration, and I'm not hurting to put in miles on it. So afterconsidering the situation overnight, Lorraine and I decided to workcheckpoints the next day. We worked one right before lunch and oneright at the end of the day. Both were emergency checkpoints, so Iguess our extra help was useful. Regardless, it was much more fun thanI expected. Lorraine and I got to know Dean and Patrick better, and itwas really neat seeing all of the gang come through!My congratulations to all the winners and especially to Hans. Hansrode VERY competitively and his commitment to his pace was to beadmired. I can only hope to give him a run next year!I'll be back in 2008 for sure.Carl

Monday, September 24, 2007

Next week I take my 1955 Moto Rumi Bicarburatore to the premier California vintage Italian bike event, the Giro D' California. This is the third running of the event and competition is going to be fierce. I've managed to win the past two years and have really enjoyed some good luck.But now I'm going to tell a few anecdotes and give away a few secrets. Frankly, there are more than a couple guys who really know what they are doing and are gunning for the win this year. But there are also riders who are new to this kind of event, and a few tips might help them understand the fun of the competition!

- Read the rules and the tips that Harley provides for the event. Harley provides this info directly:

The rules are posted on girodcalifornia dot com and explain where checkpoints can be located, scoring, etc.:

- Know what is happening regarding time, speed and distance (TSD) right from the very start. Last year I realized that it would be hard to make the first checkpoint on time, and so I flew out of the gate. I was late to that first checkpoint by a couple minutes but everyone else was much later. The lead I made on that first checkpoint brought me the win, even though I was beaten on other checkpoints that day as well as the second day. (Note that my Rumi is far from the fastest bike out there; that wasn't why I did so well. It was my being aware that I had to really get moving right from the start that was most important.)

- To track the TSD, I just took Harley's roll chart and penned in the time I was supposed to be at each turn, estimated from his time sheet. (He suggests you can write the mileage for every mile of the route, but I don't do that much.) If it looked like I was going to get somewhere too early, I'd slow down. And I sped up if it seemed I was going to be too late.

- You can also guess where the surprise checkpoints might be, and where they are unlikely to be, by looking at the rules and the map. One time last year I pulled over right before a major town, guessing the checkpoint might be there and knowing I was ahead of time. Lots of people passed me and arrived early... when I was back on schedule I started again, finding the surprise checkpoint only about 100 meters in front of me over the hill! It was a just a guess on my part, but an educated one.

- Have a strategy. You can try and ride the exact speed noted, but on these old bikes that might be hard. Typically you can't go fast enough uphill. And sometimes it's easy to be going way too fast. How are you going to keep on pace? Can you see a big mountain ahead? Maybe you should be going faster to get ahead of time before it, etc.

- Watch your competitors. Last year Lorin and I had a fantastic run for one of the checkpoints. Being next to each other in the starting order, we only had to hit the checkpoints 30 seconds apart. We found ourselves riding together, and we both knew if we stayed together, neither of us could pull a significant lead on the other! It was hilarious as we tailed each other, sometimes riding slow, sometimes fast while watching our time speed distance charts. We knew we were both watching each other's every move! Finally we stumbled on the next checkpoint. I made a point to quickly get it done and zoomed off without waiting. And I never saw Lorin again after that due to the curvy roads.

- Watch your competitors, version 2. If people are following you, essentially keeping time with you, find a way to break them off of your tail. I've been known to hide down a side road or behind a parked truck to let people pass.

- Watch your competitors, (version 3) but DON'T follow them. We left town at the start, and as I had to make a bike adjustment, I stopped for a minute right after the start. I was caught by the next pack of riders and followed them. This was the second day, so people knew roughly where the route went, or so they thought. The leading rider went down the ramp for the highway, and I knew immediately that was wrong. Harley doesn't run us on the major highways, and more importantly, we hadn't reached the mileage for the next turn. But, the rest of the pack followed down the ramp. I stopped for a moment and considered, and then I continued on my way. At lunch several of those riders were asking about why their mileages were all off and why they hit the checkpoints early. Ends up the detour they took cleanly merged back on the route, so they never knew they took a wrong turn. And I didn't answer Ivan's questions about what I thought of the supposedly messed up mileages! ;-).

Thursday, August 30, 2007

It's hard to believe it's only been 14 weeks, it seems like the Incidente was years ago to me. I feel completely healed physically from the accident. But emotionally I am still very disappointed to have missed the 2007 Motogiro. Lorraine has recovered well physically too. After much therapy, her neck is completely healed and her hearing is almost normal, she just suffers from rare tinnitus now and it continues to improve every month. It's still been a bit hard to admit to myself that I missed the event. I still haven't been able to convince myself to find time to unpack my box of gear in the garage. I'm tempted to leave it all packed for next year!I've looked through all the photos of the race that others have posted on the web, and I have spoken to a few of the competitors. They all say Sicilia was wonderful and the organization of the event was very good. As usual the special tests have gotten harder, they seem to make the event a bit tougher every year! I looked through the results and it appears that only 14 riders (of 75 in the vintage class) finished the 5 day event on the same minute as the leaders! It must have been very tough. If you are curious, you can find the complete results here.The organizers announced that the 2008 event will be in Sardegna (Sardenia)! I'm really looking forward to that. It's just my hope that all the great Italian racers come again. I think it's much harder for the Italians to make it to the island events as it is a longer and more expensive trip for them. I heard Giuliano Maoggi and Remo Venturi made it to Sicilia, I really hope they can make it to Sardegna with their comrades in 2008.I want to thank one more time all my friends for their support for my Sicilia effort. While we were unsuccessful with the Motogiro, we did make a great donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation! And that is something to be happy about!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Things have gone way off course...I write this from Rome, having left Sicily and abandoned this years Motogiro competition. Lo and I are OK, but the last couple days have been rather hard!Here is the story.We spent a couple days in Siracusa, enjoying the city and getting used to the time zone. And then we left in our car to go exploring. We drove to Noto, a simple but beautiful town. It is the town with the same name as that of close friends and so it was especially interesting for us. Then we headed to Ragusa and went to the old town for a late lunch, a great meal in a small piazza. We left Ragusa and we were unsure whether to go to Caltagirone or directly to our at a small farm in the countryside...There was an intersection of two highways, and we went the wrong direction at first so we turned around to correct our turn. Lorraine was driving. The intersection of these two small highways required us to turn left, across the oncoming lane onto an on ramp for the other highway. Lo turned... and we were hit hard from behind! Apparently the driver behind us attempted to pass us on the left in the intersection. She hit us very hard (she was probably traveling at 60 mph or so) and we then bounced into the guardrail of the on ramp. The shock of the impact was giant, setting off the curtain airbags on both sides of the car. It was amazing how loud these airbags were. I was momentarily deafened. Our car was essentially destroyed and as we could not exit either side, we ended up climbing out the passenger side window. Los neck hurt and she could not hear from her left ear. My left temple hurt; I assume I hit the center mirror with my head. The driver of the other car was hurt. Witnesses came to our aid and the ambulances arrived to take us all away.I wont detail all of the rest of the story, but in short we escaped the rather inadequate Sicilian medical system, spent a day recovering in Ragusa and then fled to Rome for modern and expert medical help. Between Los hearing loss, whiplash and my banged up head we decided "discretion is the better part of valor" and we should withdraw from this years Motogiro. We spent several days recovering, talking to doctors and drinking and eating here in Rome. Today, an ear specialist has told us Los hearing will return in her left ear after 10 to 20 days and she should be fine. A good regular doctor says her whiplash should recover but that she should continue to wear a neck brace. My temple injury should be OK, but I should not risk another impact for a while. We will return to California early, but we think we are healthy enough to spend a couple days more in Rome salvaging a bit of vacation from this trip.I'm extremely disappointed that Ill be missing this years Motogiro. Its the 50th anniversary of the final 1957 race and sure to be special for the original racers who still come back for this revival. But taking enough care so Lo and I can healthily return next year is the priority.I must thank all of you for your great support and the donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation! Obviously I'd hoped to honor those donations with a great effort in this years race, but regardless, it is a great cause. Thank you all very much!Carl

Friday, May 11, 2007

We made it to Sicilia! But on the way our flight from Frankfurt to Milano was delayed... and we just made the connection for our flight from Milano to Catania. And we arrived after our 18 hour trip... but NONE of our luggage made it! We hoped the next flight would bring our luggage, but Alitalia could tell us nothing. So we picked up our rental car and drove to Catania, about 1.5 hours from the airport, when you don't know where you are going. I was planning on returning to the airport for the 11PM arrival of the next flight to hopefully claim our luggage. I was afraid someone would walk off if the bags if they arrived. But it was too late and we were far too tired. We had a nice dinner and went to bed instead!This morning we called the airport and they claimed our luggage would be there at 11:15AM. So we left for the airport. After a brief tour of the back of the airport to get past security, we found they only had 2 of our 3 bags! They had our regular luggage, but all my motogiro gear was gone. They had no track of it at all. We decided to stay to see the next flight from Milan, at noon. We waited at the carousel and again watched everyone else claim their bags but the motogiro bag did not arrive. We went again to the desk, and the attendants there were not hopeful. Sigh... I decided to wait a day and then to try and buy new leathers and gear in here. As we walked toward the airport exit, Lorraine noticed a couple bags standing to the side of the carousel... and there was my bag! We rejoiced!So we are here, complete with all our gear and we are quickly recovering from the jet lag.Our touring begins now, we have about 1 week before the motogiro begins...Carl

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

First,I must thank everyone for their pledges so far! I'm really happy to see the support for the LAF. It is a great organization!I'm packing seriously now, as we leave for Sicilia at 11:45AM tomorrow! I think I have bought everything I need to replenish my supplies and tools. I also had one of my chronometers repaired and purchased a few new timing devices.Importantly, I have heard back from my excellent mechanic in Spoleto! He has very thoroughly gone over the bike. He has replaced the rear rim that I bent last year (and hammered out to complete the event then!). And he has completely gone throughout the charging system and carburetor and done a myriad of other small repairs I requested. I'll only see the bike the night before the event starts, which is always makes me a bit nervous, but I'm hopeful all will be well with it. It will be like meeting an old friend!I checked through the latest materials and I did find the actual mileages for each leg:

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Last year I started a little tradition of making my ride on the Motogiro d'Italia a little fund raiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF).I've always liked the LAF and their LIVESTRONG symbol. The LAF is about helping people bravely survive their battles with cancer and I appreciate this given that both of my parents died of cancer in the 1980's. The LAF is about LIVING YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST. That's a good thing for us all to remember.

Last year my efforts to raise money for the LAF were modest, but but this year I'm hoping to ask a few more friends to join me with a pledge.

I'd ask that you consider making a donation/pledge "per kilometer" for the distance of the Motogiro, estimated to be 1250km. Here' a simple chart to help with the math:

Monday, April 23, 2007

The last couple weeks I have been writing a guide to the motogiro for new riders. After doing the giro for a couple years, I started to think that a couple hints would really help some of the new riders. You can find it here:Vintage Veloce's Guide to the MotogiroIf you have ridden the giro before and have any comments or good additions for the guide please let me know!

Friday, April 20, 2007

Registration this year has been a little more complicated than I expected! To register in the Motogiro, you need to produce a bunch of documentation.Some of that is documentation for the bike, like legal registration and insurance. Given that my Mondial lives in Italy and has never been to the USA, this can be a hurtle. The process is completely legal but complicated. I actually insure the bike in California where I live. This insurance is actually useless since the bike isn't here in California, but it is require to register the bike. Now, California won't register a bike it has never seen so I actually register the bike in another state! And then I get international "Green Card" insurance from a company in the Netherlands, though a broker here in the USA. The green card insurance is my real insurance for riding the bike in Italy. It's a real paper chase, and the company doing the registration lost the paperwork for a bit so things have been delayed and took repeated calls to clear up!At any rate, I now have all the insurance and a fedexed copy of the registration, the real copy is "in the mail". Hopefully that will be in my hands early next week.I also picked up an International driver's license from AAA. It's not strictly required, but I always get one and make sure they stamp the motorcycle authorization.And the Motogiro requires a "Medical Certificate". I just go to my doctor who gives me a physical and then writes a letter saying I'm in good health and "medically qualified to do the participate Motogiro d'Italia".I just scanned all of this stuff along with my passport and sent it to the organizers. The scans are also good backup copy in case of emergency and I carry these with me on a USB flash dongle. Dream engine has confirmed receipt of everything, so my paperwork should be all set!

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

I've been making slow but steady progress on my to-do list. That includes- renewing the registration and insurance on my Mondial- getting special international "green card" insurance, etc.- ordering a new stopwatch- breaking in my new boots, I'm wearing them right now ;-)- ordered a good Italian made map of Sicilia

Speaking of maps, the organizer has put up simple maps of the route...Here is the itinerary:

Saturday, March 31, 2007

There is an event every Saturday morning about about 12 miles from my home called Cars and Coffee. It's an amazing impromptu show held from only 7 to 8AM and all sorts of exotic vehicles show up. I was up early this morning and so I pulled my 1955 MotoRumiBicarburatore out of the garage and rode it over. This is the same Rumi that I rode twice at the Motogiro (1994 and 1995). When I first woke up at 6:30AM, I didn't really want to get out of bed but then I realized this would be good practice for this years giro. And I have some new boots I wanted to test out.It's just amazing how the smell and feel of the Rumi just transports me back to Italy. There was a time where shifting with the wrong foot with a backwards pattern was confusing, but now I fall right back into it. And the crisp air and roar of the motor just brought a great grin to my face.Of course the MotoRumi was well received at the show, it an amazing bike.I made it home fine, wiped the Rumi off and tucked it nicely back in the garage. And while my right boot fits perfectly, strangely the left one is quite narrow and really hurt my foot to walk. It was fine on the bike, but you do spend quite a bit of time during the giro walking around before and after the day's ride. So I'll have to try and stretch that boot some...

Friday, March 23, 2007

I was surfing up the Italian road signs today. I 'm writing a little guide to try and help newbies at the Motogiro. And the Italian road signs are much different than most Americans are used to.

The Slow Travel Italy web site has a very complete listing of the various road signs here.Here are couple signs I found particularly helpful to remember.

Generally a circular sign with RED is a restriction of some type. It means DON'T do something.When I started riding in Italy I was confused by two of these "don't" signs. In particular, note the difference between the no entry (one way) and no stopping signs!

No entry, one way street

No stopping at any time

No passing (note the passing car is shown as red in the sign, and thus this means passing is forbidden)

Maximum speed limit (80km/h in this example)

This slash is typically shown over another sign, indicating the previous sign is cancelled. For instance, the no passing sign with a slash over it would indicate passing is now allowed.

A BLUE circular sign with an arrow is telling you to do something. I was confused by some of these blue signs, they often point downward where in the US they would point upward. For instance a blue circular sign with a white arrow pointing downward to the left means "keep left"; it doesn't mean look at the ground here!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The organizers have posted some more information about this years route! I really enjoy this as I get out my map of Sicily and mark the towns and cities. This gives me a feel for the route and also just helps me to get "psyched up".

Apparently we will be stopping at some famous Sicilian race tracks this year. In the past, we stopped at a track and were sent out for a couple laps, so I expect the same this year. It's always fun passing some hot new Ducati with my vintage 175cc Mondial!

The route also clearly goes right up Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. I've always wanted to see a volcano in person...

Here's what the organizers said about the route:

This year the event will dedicate itself not only to the traditional passionate competition, but also to the discovery of a territory of extraordinary beauty, that is South East Sicily.Departure will be from the golden beaches of Sciacca and then on to exploring the best the island has to offer. It will be a “theme” journey the ocean, the art and the nature: the most renowned seaside locations, the splendor of the Sicilian Baroque, the powerful nature of the Etna, the racing tracks.

On the 20th May the riders will cover a route that runs through the inside of the island and will reach, amongst other locations,Cattolica Eraclea,Chiusa Sclafani,Sambuca di Sicilia,then returning toSciacca.The first day of the Motogiro will also have a chapter at the Valle dei Templi Circuit.

The second Leg (21st May) previews a passage throughAgrigento,Caltanissetta,Piazza Armerina,Lentini,Brucoli.

On the 22nd May, departure will be fromBrucoli towards theSiracusa Circuit then following on to reachNoto,Modica,Ragusa Ibla, laNecropoli di Pantalica and finally returning toBrucoli.

The forth leg (23rd May) is characterised by a splendid tour of the Etna exploring Catania,Mascalucia,Zafferana Etnea,Acireale,Acitrezza,Carlentiniarriving once again at Brucoli.

On the 24th May, the fifth and last Leg will travel throughGrammichele,Caltagirone,Gela,Palma di Montechiaro,Porto Empedocle,with a ‘gran finale’ at Sciacca.

Friday, March 16, 2007

I've spent some time getting organized the past few days. I always make lists and after last years giro I noted what things I left with my bike in Italy, what I brought home and what I needed to buy. I had plenty of time to work on this during the long flight home so the list is surprisingly long and detailed.I bring quite a kit with me to Italy. My first race I actually brought a 70 lb bag of loggage with my riding gear as well as a tool box and a box of spares! Last year I had this down to one 50 pound bag with my riding gear plus a carry-on size bag full of spares and tools. Now I leave the carry-on bag in Italy with many of the tools and spares (including things from spare ignition points to a battery charger to a spare tire tube). But I still need to go through the master list and organize the things to take this year and buy the items that need replacement.Additionally, I need some new major gear. I already bought a new helmet but I still need new boots and gloves.For the bike I need to update it's registration and get insurance.And I need to see a doctor to get written medical approval for the race.The list is growing every day now... but shortly I should start checking things off as I'm sure I have them.The biggest near term item happens Tuesday. I recently moved, and my new garage is a complete mess! I have been busy working on other house repairs and have never unpacked anything for the garage. So there are just piles of boxes in there. My goal is to have a much nicer and organized new garage and to make that happen I have ordered a whole set of cabinets to be custom installed. The good news is the installers arrive Tuesday, and after that I'll unpack everything and set up the garage next week. With just a bit of luck I should be completely unpacked by next Friday. And then finding the items on my list should be much easier!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

My preparations are now starting "in earnest"...I had registered for the event months ago, but things really don't start to get busy until about 2 months before the event, when I make flight reservations. I don't do that until I'm sure the bike will really be ready in Italy.So yesterday I found out that my mechanic in Italy has picked up my bike from storage with another friend. This was great news as I had been anticipating this for at least a month now. The mechanic is going to service the bike for me and deliver it to Sicily for this year's event. So now it's time to really get rolling and to try and finish my preparations.I spent a couple hours writing a list of things that needed repair or adjustment on the bike. And my fiancèe (fidanzata in Italian), Lo, translated much of it into Italian. And then I spent another hour or so tweaking it till it was just what I wanted to say (I think... given my limited knowledge of the language). This involved hours digging through my Italian language manuals and parts books looking for the proper terminology for things like wheel spokes; "raggio" and rubber bushings for the rear shock absorbers; "La boccola ammortizzatrice per snodo". The list includes critical items like fixing the wheel rim that I bent last year on a rough road and fixing the battery charging system. Last year charging the battery was a real fiasco, I'm hoping to have that fixed for this year. And of course there are many smaller items like deteriorated shock mounts, an oil change, valve adjustment and timing adjustment. The usual full race prep. Hopefully the list won't be too daunting for the mechanic. (He's a great guy.. more about him another time.)I have a thousand things to do and get: flights, hotels, bike registration, insurance, new boots, a medical approval, spare parts to bring, etc. And that's not to mention that I want to upgrade my competitive timing equipment!

LA LEGGENDA RITORNA. ON THE 20th MAY 2007 THE HISTORIC REVIVAL OF THE MOTOGIRO D’ITALIA SETS OFF AGAIN

In 2007 the oldest Italian motorcycle road race is re-proposed from the 20th to the 24th May, with an itinerary centred on the most beautiful roads of Eastern Sicily.

From the 20th to the 24th May 2007 the Motogiro d’Italia, point of reference for those passionate about vintage motorcycles, will leave central Italy, host of the last two editions, and head boldly South for five days in Sicilian territory.

The Motogiro 2007 will maintain unvaried the formula that has decreed the event a success, starting and ending at Sciacca (Agrigento) acclaimed thermal location known since ancient times for its gentle climate and the healing properties of its waters rich with minerals. The route will articulate itself in 5 legs of approximately 250 km each, that will push East, until the slopes of the Etna. Currently the itinerary (which is still subject to variations) is the following:

With an overall limit of 120 participants, this class features motorbikes of up to 175cc manufactured prior to 1957 inspired on the motorcycles that raced in the original Motogiro. Competitors in the Vintage Racing Class ware subject to timed, competitive ability tests en-route.